Chicken Police: Into the HIVE! Review Summary

A worthy sequel with superb voice acting and fun minigames, but the ending feels rushed, quality drops after Chapter 3, and Marty's death is poorly handled.

Excellent sequel to original: Players widely agree that this game is a worthy and satisfying sequel, with many stating it feels like a faithful continuation or even an upgrade from the first game. The quality and taste are consistently praised.

Superb voice acting quality: Voice acting, particularly for the character Sonny, receives high praise for being excellent and bringing characters to life. The overall audio quality is a standout feature.

Fun and varied minigames: The inclusion of several unique minigames, such as shooting range, poker, and lockpicking, adds variety and freshens the experience. Players find them entertaining and a positive addition.

Great new color mode: The addition of a full color mode is a welcome feature, with many reviewers preferring it over the classic noir option. It is described as a nice option that enhances the visuals.

Beautiful art style and visuals: The game's art style is described as stunning, with a stylized cinematic quality and magnificent visuals. The overall visual presentation is a highlight for many players.

Rushed and unsatisfying ending: The ending is consistently described as rushed, abrupt, and anticlimactic, with multiple plot holes.

Marty's death poorly handled: Marty's death is widely criticized as forced, unnecessary, and lacking emotional impact.

Weaker than the first game: Compared to its predecessor, the sequel has worse storytelling, less polish, and weaker character development.

Unresolved plot threads: Several major plot points and character arcs are left dangling, leaving the story feeling incomplete.

Quality drops from Chapter 3: The narrative becomes thin and sloppy after the first three chapters, with many pacing issues.

Noir detective visual novel: Multiple reviews categorize the game as a noir detective visual novel with investigative gameplay and extensive text.

Mini-games included: Players note the presence of various mini-games such as a shooting range, card game, and other diversions, often as part of the core gameplay.

Story-driven gameplay: Reviews emphasize a strong story focus with minimal gameplay, feeling like an interactive novel with some puzzles and mini-games.

Color mode availability: A notable feature is the option to toggle between black-and-white noir mode and a full color mode, giving visual variety.

Interrogation mechanics: The game features interrogation sequences with multiple choices, good/bad cop options, and no penalty for failure, allowing retries.

Good Steam Deck performance: On the Steam Deck with max settings, the game runs at up to 45 FPS without stutters or crashes, indicating solid optimization for this handheld device.

Poor low-end performance: The game struggles on integrated graphics, with frame rates dropping to around 20 FPS even at the lowest graphical settings, making it nearly unplayable on such hardware.

Prior first-game experience required: A large number of players emphasize that playing the first game is essential for understanding the story and characters. Newcomers are strongly advised to start with the original Chicken Police game.

Recommended for first-game fans: Players who enjoyed the first game generally recommend this sequel, citing its continuation of the story and atmosphere. However, this recommendation often comes with caveats about the ending.

Loved for noir atmosphere: The noir detective aesthetic, unique characters, and hard-boiled buddy story are highly praised. Fans of this style find the game immersive and engaging despite its flaws.

Price concerns voiced: Opinions on price value are split, with some saying it is worth the money and others finding it not worth buying at the current price. Discounts are recommended to improve value.

Story and dialogue praised: For those who appreciate story-driven, dialogue-heavy games, this title is highly recommended. The writing and voice acting are highlights, appealing to visual novel and mystery fans.

Community fair range: $4.99 - $11.99.

Game completion: 9.0h.

Story completion: 8.5h.

The game has a slow start with excessive dialogue and requires knowledge of the first game, but becomes more engaging in the middle chapter; however, many players report a loss of momentum after the third chapter.

Friction: excessive dialogue before exciting part; need to have played previous game; slow deliberate pacing; forced romance writing; plot becomes information-dump later.

Unlock drivers: light puzzles and mini-games; interrogation sequences; pace pickup in middle chapter; character relationship anchoring the story.

Franchise Devotee: Plays for the narrative and character interactions, tolerating gameplay limitations and story flaws to remain in the beloved world. Motivation: Return to the beloved world and characters of Chicken Police. Stance: buy.

Noir & Detective Enthusiast: Savors the visual and audio presentation, enjoys point-and-click exploration and humor, appreciates the hard-boiled dialogue and noir atmosphere despite narrative flaws. Motivation: Immersion in a stylish noir atmosphere with dark humor and hard-boiled dialogue. Stance: sale.

Narrative Purist: Focuses on plot coherence, character arcs, and investigative logic; critical of inconsistencies and rushed conclusions. Motivation: A coherent, compelling detective story with a satisfying conclusion. Stance: no buy.

Steam Deck: The game exhibits a severe progress-blocking bug on Steam Deck reported by at least one user, along with a potential crash issue. Despite some positive reports of good performance, the presence of a game-breaking bug classifies the Steam Deck experience as broken.

Linux and Proton: The only available review reports that the game works well on both Linux and Steam Deck, with no mentioned issues or required tweaks.